MOBILITY

The length of time spent living in a community is considered to influence the number of ties with others in that community and the strength of those ties. Levels of social and civic participation, including participation in sport and physical recreation, may be higher among long-term residents of a community (ABS 2006). However, the propensity to move is related to life transitions with younger people being more likely to move than the elderly. As shown earlier, young people are also more likely to participate in sport.

5.5 Participation in Sport and Physical Recreation, By length of time in current dwelling
	Participated	Did not participate	Total	Participation rate	Non-participation rate	Total
	'000	'000	'000	%	%	%
Less than one year	1 993.3	673.3	2 666.6	74.7	25.3	100.0
1-2 years	1 981.6	619.7	2 601.3	76.2	23.8	100.0
3-4 years	1 338.4	397.2	1 735.5	77.1	22.9	100.0
Total less than 5 years	5 313.2	1 690.2	7 003.5	75.9	24.1	100.0
5-9 years	2 054.4	709.9	2 764.2	74.3	25.7	100.0
10-19 years	2 285.0	801.3	3 086.4	74.0	26.0	100.0
20 years or more	2 073.0	985.6	3 058.6	67.8	32.2	100.0
Not applicable(a)	733.2	142.4	875.6	83.7	16.3	100.0
Total	12 458.7	4 329.4	16 788.2	74.2	25.8	100.0
(a) Respondents who were not the household reference person, e.g. a family member who is younger than the length of time the family has been in the current dwelling.

The participation rate in sport and physical recreation activities is significantly lower among people residing at the same address for more than twenty years (68%). The majority of this group were aged 55 years and over (73%). Please refer to the spreadsheet available as part of this publication for the data on the length of time resident in the current dwelling, together with age.

Of those people who had moved in the previous five years, similar proportions moved to a different address within the same suburb or locality (44%) or within the same state (46%). The balance (10%) was those who had moved from interstate or from overseas. The rates of participation by these groups were broadly similar, however those who moved locally had slightly lower rates of participation.

5.6 Participation in Sport and Physical Recreation, By persons who have moved in previous five years and location of move
	Participated	Did not participate	Total	Participation rate	Non-participation rate	Total
	'000	'000	'000	%	%	%
In same suburb/locality/town as current dwelling	2 918.8	1 192.6	4 111.4	71.0	29.0	100.0
In same state	3 420.9	943.4	4 364.2	78.4	21.6	100.0
In different state or overseas	767.7	153.6	921.2	83.3	16.7	100.0
Total people who moved	7 107.4	2 289.5	9 396.9	75.6	24.4	100.0
Not applicable	5 351.4	2 039.9	7 391.3	72.4	27.6	100.0
Total	12 458.7	4 329.4	16 788.2	74.2	25.8	100.0

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